Chicken Run- Taste For Freedom
by ChickenRun312
Summary: You remember the movie Chicken Run? Well what if Ginger and Rocky were already a couple and their chicks had hatched on the farm?
1. Plans Of Freedom

It was just like any other day at the Tweedy's farm as Ginger was in solitary confinement for trying to escape. Again. Mr. Tweedy soon let her out and the feisty hen returns to the chicken yard, being greeted by Babs, Ethel, and her husband Rocky. Ginger met Rocky when he crash landed on the farm though no one knew that he was from a circus. The two chickens had different views on each other but they also had an instant attraction. They dated for awhile before deciding to become mates. The Rhode Island Red didn't have to hide from the farmers since it seemed like he was a lost chicken that wandered onto the farm

"Hey baby doll. How was the brig?" Rocky smiles at his wife

"Like any other time I've been there." Ginger brushes coal crud off of her feathers

"You still look beautiful even with coal soot on your feathers." Rocky kisses the hen on her cheek

"It's nice to get a bit of time to yourself, isn't it?" Babs smiles at her green eyed friend

A loud ringing filled the chicken yard, hens scrambled about and lining up into rows. It was their weekly routine of roll call. Ginger and Rocky stood beside Bunty just as Fowler came over and started telling the others to show discipline in the ranks

"Give over old fool, they just want to count us." Bunty rolls her eyes

"How dare you talk back to a senior ranking officer! Why back in my RAF days-" Fowler began when the gate of the chicken yard opened

"Fowler, they're coming. Get back in line." Ginger tells him

"Oh right, right." Fowler squeezes between a short dark brown and made her fall over

"Doll face, where are the kids?" Rocky whispers as Mrs. Tweedy stood in front of the chickens, having Mr. Tweedy hand over the clipboard

"Darling, they're fine. They're two years old." Ginger whispers

"Correction. Grayson and Lillian are three years old." Rocky reminds his wife

"I hate to interrupt but do you have a new plan, hen?" Mac buts in

Ginger subtly gives her a torn piece of paper

"I thought we tried going under." Mac said

Ginger flipped it around for her

"Ah. Over. Right." Mac skims over the plan

Mrs. Tweedy began walking down the different rows as she stared at the paper from egg count. Ginger and Rocky tensed up after the dreadful woman stopped in front of their youngest daughter, Ava. Ava glances up at the evil woman and prepared for the worst when a hen to her right was picked up instead

"Edwina. Bunty why didn't you give her some of yours?" Ginger looks to her friend

"I would have. She didn't tell me. She didn't tell anyone." Bunty explains

They watched the Tweedy's leave the chicken yard with Edwina, taking her to the chop which was in the old barn. Ginger and Rocky went up onto a roof of one of the chicken huts to get a better look. The feisty hen puts a wing on her neck as she watched the whole thing happen, looking away after hearing the axe come down

"Come here." Rocky embraces her

"We've got to get out of here." Ginger spoke softly

"We will. We just haven't perfected any of our plans yet." Rocky assures her

"What if she had taken Ava? I can't bare to think of losing our children if they're taken to the chop." Ginger rests her head against his chest

"Sweetheart, it's going to be ok. Just take a deep breath." Rocky soothes

"Ginger? Are we still on?" Mac asked from down below, staring up at the couple

"Oh we're on alright. Spread the word, Mac. Meeting tonight at hut seventeen." Ginger moves away from Rocky

"What's our next move?" Rocky asked

"You'll see." Was all she said

Ava was talking to Agnes, Ducky, Babs, Buttercup and Millen about her heart dropping experience of almost being taken by Mrs. Tweedy. It was definitely something she hoped wouldn't happen again

"You were very brave, dear." Agnes told her

"I'm sure your parents would have done something if that dreadful monster took you." Buttercup said

"Maybe she'd take you on holiday like Ginger." Babs smiles, knitting away on goodness knows what. All she ever did was knit

"Aunt Babs, I wouldn't have gone on holiday." Ava rests a wing on her neck at thought of Mrs. Tweedy bringing that axe down onto her

"How many eggs did you even lay this week?" Millen asks out of curiosity

"Three." Ava replies

Two roosters walked over to the group of hens, Buttercup, Millen, Agnes and Ducky swooning over the heartthrobs

"Hey sis. How are you holding up?" Grayson scratches at an itch on one of his elbows

"What do you think?" Ava glared

"Calm down, it was a scary thing for all of us." Ricky puts his wings on his hips. He glanced at the gawking hens, winking and clicking his tongue

Buttercup fainted while the others giggled and waved at Rocky's look alike

"How are you, ladies?" Ricky smiles

"Hi Ricky." They reply

"Have you done something different with your feathers, Agnes? You look even more beautiful than I remember." Ricky flirts with the hen. He picked up quite a few things from his father and he didn't regret it, especially since he had a way with the hens

"Where's Lillian?" Ava ignores her flirtatious brother

"I think I saw her with aunt Mac. Oh! There's a meeting tonight at hut seventeen. But I'm probably going to take a nap. I don't see why mom can't have the meetings elsewhere." Grayson tells her

"And why do you care? We live at that hut, you ninny." Ava folds her wings

"It's going to be too noisy for him. That's why." Ricky buts in

"Bugger off. At least I won't be flirting with every single hen." Grayson glared at the young rooster

"Knock it off!" Ava sighs. What was it with her and roosters?

"For the record, I won't be flirting with everyone. I broke up with Ethel last week and that would just be awkward. Plus, I would never flirt with my own mother. That's just creepy." Ricky said

"Why don't you two walk aunt Babs home? I'm sure she'd love to hear about your day." Ava rolls her eyes. Some days she hated her brothers and questioned their existence

Grayson and Ricky walk with Babs to hut eleven, the young hen watching them fade from view. Buttercup, Ducky, Agnes and Millen look to Ava

"I'm glad someone noticed I did something different with my feathers. Ricky is such a ladies man. Did you see the way he looked at me?" Agnes sighs contently

"Ava, you shouldn't be too harsh on them. Especially when those two are working their magic." Ducky said

"You're lucky you're not related to them." Ava turns to face the hens

Later that night at hut seventeen, Ginger was trying to get the attention of her fellow hens but they were all too busy doing their own thing, tuning out Ginger

Grayson sulks in his nest, annoyed at the chaos. "I hate my life..."

Fowler pounded his cane on the table to get everyone's attention. "Quiet! Quiet I say, what what!"

"Thank you, Fowler." Ginger looks at the old rooster

"Why back in my RAF days, we never wasted time with unnecessary chitchat!" Fowler went on

"Yes, thank you, Fowler." Ginger tried to get the point across to him that everyone had settled down

Fowler was about to say more when he noticed all of the hens were staring at him in silence. "Right. Carry on." He walked off to a corner of the hut

"I know our last attempt was a bit of a fiasco, but Mac, Lillian and I came up with a brand new plan! Show them Mac!" Ginger looks to the Scottish hen

Lillian reveals a strange looking contraption that she pulls a piece of cloth off of

"How does it work?" Rocky stroked his beak

"This is us, right?" Mac holds up a turnip and places it in the round end of the doohickey. "We sit in like this, wind her up and let her go!" She presses down on a release mechanism, launching the turnip. The chickens watched the vegetable splat onto the hut wall by the doorway. This causes the hens to panic

"Good grief! The turnips bought it!" Fowler said

"Lillian helped, huh? Brilliant idea, sis." Ricky shakes his head

"Shut your beak." Lillian glared at him

"Farmers coming!" Delores said, sounding an alarm

The hens scurried around the hut, hiding their escape plans, putting out candles, hiding underneath the floorboards and getting into their nests.

"Operation cover up!" Fowler shouted, Agnes throwing a blanket over him

The roof of the hut opened just as Ava got into her nest, Mr. Tweedy shining his flashlight over the 'sleeping' hens and roosters. He did a double take after he swore one of the chickens nests had a teapot in it but it didn't. However, the head looked a bit odd to him

Ricky made cooing noises to make the dummy head seem real, Mr. Tweedy still staring at it when he was startled by Mrs. Tweedy calling for him. "It's all in me head, it's all in me head, it's all in me head." He closed the roof of the hut before leaving

Ginger hopped out of her nest, the others doing the same. "Think everyone, think. What haven't we tried yet?"

"We haven't tried not trying to escape." Bunty puts her wings on her hips

"Hm. That might work." Babs said

"What about Edwina? How many more empty nests will it take?" Ginger gestures to the absent nest, the others looking over at it

"Perhaps it wouldn't be empty if she spent more time laying and less time escaping." Bunty folds her wings

"She has a point." Ava spoke up

"I agree with aunt Bunty. Why don't we just accept the fact that we're not getting anywhere with these escape plans." Grayson approached his mother, walking through the crowd of hens

"So laying eggs all of our lives and getting plucked, stuffed, and roasted is good enough for you is it?" Ginger looks at her son with her wings folded

"It's a living." Babs smiles

"If you haven't noticed, I don't lay eggs." Grayson replies, ignoring his aunt

"You know what the problem is, the fences aren't just around the farm. They're up here. In your heads." Ginger taps a finger on the side of her head, looking to everyone. She made her way through the crowd as she went on. "There's a better place out there. Somewhere beyond that hill. It has wide open spaces with lots of trees and grass. Can you imagine that? Cool, green grass." The British hen stands on a crate and rubs a picture on one of the bunks that had a hill with grass on it, closing her eyes for a second as she visualized being free

"Who feeds us?" Mable asked

"We feed ourselves." Ginger replies

"Where's the farm?" Gertrude asked

"There is no farm." Ginger turns to face her

"Then where does the farmer live?" Babs stops knitting for once

"There is no farmer, Babs." Ginger tells the clueless hen

"Is he on holiday?" The knit wit wonders

"He isn't anywhere! Don't you get it? There's no morning egg count, no dogs, no farmers, no coops and keys and no fences!" Ginger tries to get through to everyone

"In all my life I've never heard such a fantastic...load of tripe!" Bunty raises her voice

Ginger fell silent at this

"Oh face the facts, ducks! The chances of us getting out of here are a million to one!" Bunty pokes Ginger on her chest

"Then there's still a chance." Ginger said, looking Bunty straight in her eyes and getting down from the crate she was standing on, heading for the doorway and turning around slightly to look at everyone. A bunch of blank stares and silence

Ginger stepped outside and hits the side of the hut, making the door come down

"That went well." Ricky comments

"You're such an idiot." Ava rolls her eyes at him

Rocky went outside to talk to his wife. "Ginger?" He walked after the irritated hen

Ginger hits the wired fence and groans in frustration

"I'm sorry about what went down in there but you can't give up on them. At least not yet. They need you to lead them to freedom and I know that you'll find a way to do it no matter what." Rocky places a wing on her shoulder

"Thank you. I'm fresh out of ideas, Rocky. We've tried everything." Ginger glances at the American rooster

Rocky rubs the back of his neck. "Maybe not. We haven't tried flying. I used to fly back when-"

"You flew?!" Ginger's eyes lit up

"Well, yeah. But you should know-" Rocky tries to get a word in

"That's wonderful! You can teach us all how to fly and we'll be free!" Ginger smiles widely, now facing her mate

"Uh...yeah." Rocky smiles nervously

"Thank you, Rocky." Ginger hugs him

Rocky pats Ginger on her back. Now how was he going to tell her that he couldn't actually fly, that he flew back when he was in a circus? In fact, that's how he truly got on this farm but he never told anyone his secret. Ginger went back inside with Rocky and told the others the news

"I never knew you could fly, dad." Lillian raises a brow

Rocky gives a nervous laugh and averted his gaze from the tan hen

"I didn't know chickens could even fly." Ava smiles. She felt hopeful that there a good chance of escaping this time

"When are we starting? I have important things to do tomorrow." Ricky asked

"First thing in the morning." Ginger said

"Since when are you ever busy?" Grayson scoffs at the green bandanna wearing rooster

"Since always." Ricky answers him. He walked to his nest, unintentionally brushing his tail feathers against Buttercup and Agnes and the hens gushed over it

"Mom, you know I don't believe in second chances. You in particular have had far too many. What if this isn't our saving grace?" Grayson wasn't persuaded by the flying idea

"I know, Grayson. But I have a feeling that this is the one. This is the plan that's going to work and we'll all be free at last!" Ginger said in a determined tone

"Look, all I'm saying is don't pin your dreams on this whole flying rubbish." Grayson warns the feisty hen

Rocky had a hard time getting any sleep that night. He had to think of something to keep the flock busy tomorrow for flying lessons. Maybe he could do a bunch of different exercises that they could workout to

Hope you guys are liking it so far!


	2. Hard Work

The chickens were up bright and early. It was just like any other morning on the farm except today is the day that the chickens would learn how to 'fly'. They gathered around hut twelve as Rocky began an important lecture

"So, you want to fly? Well, it ain't going to be easy and it ain't going to happen overnight either. Flying takes three things. Hard work, perseverance and...hard work." Rocky had trouble thinking of another word to use

"You said hard work twice!" Fowler shouts from the doorway of his hut

"That's because it takes twice as much work as perseverance." Rocky said. He licked one of his fingers and showed it to the hens, laughter filling the air

"Codswallop! Cocky Yanks think they know it all, always have a snappy answer, why back in my day..." Fowler mutters to himself and went inside his hut, closing the door

"Grandpa is in one of his moods." Ricky laughs. He and Grayson weren't participating in the flying lessons, watching from the shade of hut fifteen

"You think he's right about it being a bunch of codswallop?" Grayson examines his fingers

"Possibly. I guess we'll have to see." Ricky shrugs

They quieted down after seeing their father walk over to an old wooden chair a few inches away from the flock

"The most important thing is, we have to work as a team." Rocky said

The hens looked at each and nodded in agreement. That was definitely something they agreed on. Team work is the most important thing

"Which means you do everything I tell you." Rocky adds, everyone except for his mate and his daughters nodding once more

"I'm pretty sure that's not how working as a team goes." Lillian whispers

"You and me both." Ava leans to one side

Rocky hopped up onto the rickety old chair. "Right, lets rock and roll!" He started doing a simple wing raise exercise and the hens copied him. He got a sudden cramp in his left wing and clutches it while crying out in pain, the hens of course copying him except for his girls

Grayson and Ricky look at each other. They couldn't be serious. This had to be some kind of a joke. The brothers sure were glad they weren't participating especially since the exercises got weirder from pedaling their feet in midair while laying on their backs to toe touches. Rocky stared at his mate from behind though Ginger caught him in his act and the rooster acted innocent, walking away

Ricky stared at Agnes and Buttercup from behind and boy did they look stunning. Like father like son. He was of course interrupted from the fabulous view after Grayson smacked him upside the head

"Ow! I wasn't doing anything!" Ricky rubs the back of his head

"You know, you and dad give roosters a bad name." Grayson scowls

"No we don't. And you hit like a hen." Ricky scoffs

The hens moved on to a different exercise which Grayson and Ricky can only describe as Kung fu chicken. Things lightened up though as they watched the hens do push ups, Bunty showing off by doing it with one wing behind her back and Babs doing it completely wrong, pushing off with her body

"Why are we doing this again?" Ava grumbled

"Your father is doing this because we need to get into shape." Ginger glances back at her daughters

"My wings are killing me." Lillian huffs

Mr. Tweedy was making his rounds with the guard dogs when he saw the chickens doing the pushups. As he turned to get Mrs. Tweedy's attention, Grayson made signals with his wings to the flock. Operation act natural. The hens quickly stopped their training and began pecking, flapping their wings and clucking. Rocky, Grayson and Ricky joined in on the act

"Mrs. Tweedy! The chickens are...pecking?" The daft man feeling as though his eyes were playing tricks on him

Mrs. Tweedy hits him on the head with her clipboard. Idiot

"That was close." Agnes whispers

"Not as close as you are to me, baby doll." Ricky winks while walking past her

The chickens continued on with their flight training once the coast was clear, doing sideway stretches when Rocky told them to stop, go down and make little circles in which the hens started making tight circles as they spun around. Ginger and her daughters stopped when they noticed Rocky sitting in a jacuzzi while Ducky uses an air pump to blow bubbles in the water, Marion massaging the roosters shoulders and Amber fanning him

Ginger clears her throat and the three stop what they're doing, smiling apologetically and going back to training with the others

"I thought you were teaching us to fly." Lillian folds her wings

"That's what I'm doing." Rocky said

"Isn't there usually some flapping involved?" Ava slightly flaps her wings

"Hey, do I tell you how to lay eggs? Relax, we're making progress." Rocky wiggles a foot

"Really? I can't help but thinking we're going round in circles." Ginger gestures to the dizzy hens still spinning around

"What the? Hey! Cut it out! You're making me dizzy." Rocky calls out to them. "I think they're ready to fly now."

"Good. Because they certainly can't walk anymore." Ginger said

"This is becoming too unbearable to watch. Why not call it quits?" Ricky walks over with Grayson

"Because we're not quitters." Lillian simply tells him

"We can tell from watching." Grayson leans against his brother

"Hey, hey! I just groomed them!" Ricky pushes him off of his sleek feathers

"Boys, don't fight." Ginger sighs at her sons

"He started it, ma." Ricky points at the black rooster

Rocky stands up in the jacuzzi. "Up and at 'em, gals! Let's flap!" He calls out

"Finally." Ava mutters

First there was the ramp. This was a wooden plank, it's end propped up high in the air. One by one, the chickens took a running start up the makeshift incline, flapping madly as ascended to the top. Off the end they plummeted as Rocky gave them a cheerful thumbs up. Anything to get Ginger and his daughters off his back

Nick and Fetcher crawled out from underneath a hut, Grayson and Ricky looking at them for a quick second before returning their attention to the hens continuing with their plunges

"What's this caper, gov?" Nick brushes off his suit

"They're flying." Grayson said

"Obviously." Nick rolls his eyes

"They're gonna kill themselves. Wanna watch?" Fetcher remarked

"Yeah, alright." Nick shrugs. They didn't have anything better to do. Not to mention it would be great entertainment

The next brilliantly conceived exercise involved hot water bottles. The chickens would bounce over the fence using the hot water bottles as launching pads. Then there was a new flapping exercise. The flying lessons continued. Rocky's next big idea was the roof run. This meant that the chickens ran along the ridge of a rooftop and flapped wildly as they went over the edge. They fell like lead weights

"Go,go,go,go,go,go!" Rocky yells as he stood by the edge of the rooftop

Grayson and Ricky watched from the ground beside Nick and Fetcher's makeshift bleachers. They weren't impressed as each one failed, piling onto one another

"Poultry in motion!" Nick laughed

Ginger took a running start, flapped and flew a few inches, landing on something soft and...moving? She looked down, frowning. It was a pile of chickens beneath her feet

Grayson and Ricky had a slight glimmer of hope that their mother would have flown but had it taken away after they saw she didn't even when she herself thought she did

"Birds of a a feather flop together!" Fetcher cackled

Ginger looks at Rocky with her wings on her hips, Rocky smiling innocently. The chickens tried getting off of one another which resulted into them toppling onto the hard ground, feathers flying. Rocky worriedly looks down below at the groaning hens and got off of the rooftop

The hens walked back to their huts in pain from training all day and the only results they got were getting hurt

"Great work, ladies. Great work. The pain you're feeling is a good thing, pain is your friend. Keep the faith there, Agnes. Ducky, I think you flew four feet today!" Rocky gives her a high five

"Four feet! From the roof to the ground!" Nick and Fetcher laugh from peering behind a corner of a hut

"It's all part of the process, ladies. Nothing to worry about. You cheesy little-" Rocky started walking back to hut seventeen when Lillian joined him

"Dad, are you sure we're doing all the right things?" The tan hen holds her right side

"Of course. I'd never mislead you." Rocky kisses her forehead

The ground started to rumble which worried Rocky and his daughter. It couldn't have been good. "Woah, the grounds shaking. Are we worried, are we worried?" The American rooster extends an arm, stopping Ginger

A large truck arrived, the chickens staring at the blinding headlights as it slowly made its way down the driveway. They watched as it backed up towards the barn, Mr. Tweedy guiding it. Large boxes were loaded off of the truck which intrigued the birds, Ginger and Lillian watching the whole thing through a pair of binoculars. Once the truck left, Mr. Tweedy bidded them farewell, suddenly looking over at the chickens gathered by the fence. Ginger and Lillian look down at the binoculars in their wings and hide it behind their backs, the birds whistling in innocence

"It's all in your head. It's all in your head." The farmer told himself, walking over to the crates and got to work on unboxing it's contents

The chickens went back to their huts after Mr. Tweedy was gone from sight. Grayson was in his nest when he saw Ricky escorting Buttercup to her bunk. Her left leg was bruised so she needed a bit of help walking. The dark brown hen carefully sits down on the edge of her nest and thanks Ricky for his help

"No problem. Holler if you need anything." Ricky smiles softly at her before going over to his nest

"I thought you liked Agnes." Grayson asked him

"You need to keep the ladies guessing into who you're really interested in. Haven't you learned anything?" Ricky gets comfortable and shifts his bedding around

"Apparently not." Grayson rolls his eyes

Ginger approached her nest and sighs to herself. Why weren't they lifting off of the ground? What were they doing wrong? She'd have to ask Rocky what the problem was. The feisty hen went outside to look for Rocky. He was preening himself in front of a broken piece of glass

"Darling, I need to talk to you." Ginger said

"What's on your mind?" Rocky flips his comb over to the left side

"Have we flown over that fence?" Ginger folds her wings

"Not quite." Rocky glances at her reflection

"Then there's a problem." Ginger states

"Hey good things come to those who wait, doll face." Rocky straightened up and turned to face her

"How long did it take you?" Ginger rolls her eyes at her nickname

"To do what?" Rocky asked

"To fly!" Ginger said

"Apples and oranges, baby doll. I'm gifted, they're not. You can't compare the two. The point is, these things take time." Rocky explains to his mate, turning back to look at himself in the mirror

"Which we are rapidly running out of and we haven't even lifted off of the ground! Why?" Ginger pesters the American rooster

"Thrust!"

Ginger and Rocky turn around. "What?"

"I went over my calculations hen and I forgot the key element is thrust!"

Rocky gave the Scottish hen a blank stare. "I- I didn't get a word of that."

"Thrust! Other birds like ducks and geese when they take off, what do they have? Thrust!" Mac explains

"I swear she ain't using real words." Rocky said to Ginger

"She said we need more thrust." Lillian translates for her father, Mac nodding and pointed at her notepad

"Oh, thrust! Well, of course we need thrust! Thrusting and flying are like this. That's flying and that's thrust." Rocky had crossed two of his fingers as a demonstration on how flying and thrust go together

"Can you excuse us for a moment?" Ginger asked Lillian and Mac

"Aye." Mac answers

Ginger grabs Rocky by the arm and pulled him away from the two. She lets go of him once they were out of earshot from the two hens. "If we don't start seeing some progress, you'll be spending the rest of your days sleeping in Fowler's hut." She pokes her mate on his chest

"You know, you're the first chick I met with the shell still on?" Rocky smirks at her

Ginger frowns at the rooster

"Sleep tight, angel face. I'll be back in a bit." Rocky winked and clicked his tongue. He turned around and walked away, disappearing behind a hut. He went to hut thirty one and got down on his knees, looking underneath and pulling out his old backpack and opening it and reaching in, pulling out an aged poster. He sighed to himself as he stared at it, memories flooding back to him. He didn't miss his circus days but he hated lying to Ginger and the flock about flying. He could only fly from the help of a cannon, not on his own

Hope you guys are enjoying it so far


	3. Close Call

Ginger and her kids woke up to the sound of talking coming from outside. What was going on this early in the morning? It wasn't even time to train yet

"Ricky, keep it down." Lillian grumbled

"It's not me, sis." Ricky yawns and sits up

Ginger feels the empty spot behind her and knew that it must be Rocky they were hearing since he wasn't in the nest beside her. She got up and went outside, following the sound of the voices to see her husband talking to Nick and Fetcher

Rocky peers into a sack and hid it behind him after hearing his wife

"What are you doing with these two crooks?" She asked

"Nothing, sweetheart." Rocky smiles innocently

"So huh. How about them eggs?" Nick interrupted

"Eggs?! Don't tell me you promised them-" Ginger was cut off, Rocky raising a finger

"Yep! Promised them every egg I lay this month." Rocky winks at the hen

"And uh, when can we expect the first installment?" Nick and Fetcher smile

"I'm brewing one up as we speak, guys. I'll keep you posted." Rocky assures the pack rats

"Pleasure doing business with you, sir." Nick and Fetcher turn around and walk away

Rocky waves farewell to them and he managed to hear Nick call him a sucker in reality it was the other way around. Roosters couldn't lay eggs after all

Ginger shook her head at her mate. She hated it when he lied

"What?" Rocky turns to her

"You lied to them!" Ginger said furiously

"I didn't lie, doll face. I just...omitted certain truths. I'll give them exactly what I promised." Rocky was unfazed

"Which is nothing." Ginger puts her wings on her hips

"Which is what I'll give them." Rocky turns around and starts to rummage through the flour sack

"And what will you give us?" Lillian asked, dropping in on the conversation as she came over

Rocky showed his wife and daughter what the rats smuggled for him. A pair of Mr. Tweedy's suspenders. "Thrrruuusssst!" The Rhode Island Red stretches it to show her and trying to imitate Mac

Lillian and Ava pulled a bunk back, having modified it with wheels as Ethel and Lola helped the two move it backwards. Bunty was atop the cart and she was very nervous about this idea. What they had made was basically a large slingshot. They stretched the suspenders as far back as they could

"You ok, sweetheart? Good, good. Now this is just a little help to get you going, it's a thrust exercise." Rocky tells the blunt hen

"Dad, are you sure about this?" Grayson whispers

"Positive. You need to relax." Rocky looks at his oldest son

"Dad!" Lillian gets his attention

"Right. Release!" Rocky orders

The hens let go of the cart, slingshotting Bunty forward across the chicken yard. The length of the rope that was attached to the back of the bunk uncoiled and then, went taut. The bunk shot Bunty forward off of it

Grayson and Ricky watched with wide eyes. Was she truly going to fly over the fence? Was it now possible?

"Come on! Flap! Flap!" Ginger encouraged

Bunty stuck out her wings to the side and flapped them furiously

"Yes, yes, yes!" Lillian cheers, soon frowning

Bunty was stopped by the barbed wire fence and was sent flying backwards, colliding with Nick and Fetcher who were in their "bleachers". The chickens moved out of the way of the rolling ball. Ginger looks at her husband

"Oops." Rocky smiles nervously at her

Grayson and Ricky sighed, their hopes gone. So much for flying

The bell started ringing throughout the chicken yard. Roll call

"Roll call?! I haven't laid any eggs." Ava panics

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Ginger asked

"I was so busy with the flying and-" Ava began

"They're coming!" Judy ran past them

"Sweetheart, stay by us. We'll protect you if they even try to take you from us." Rocky tells his daughter

The chickens anxiously awaited for the Tweedy's to enter the chicken yard as they stood impatiently in their designated spots. Everyone became tense when the evil greedy woman arrived. Ava was shaking like a leaf she was so nervous! Rocky grabbed his daughters wing to calm her down

"Everything's going to be ok, princess." Rocky whispers

So far it was going good as Mrs. Tweedy made her way down the rows of chickens. Ginger and Rocky tensed up when they saw her stop in front of Ava. Instead of picking up the ginger hen, she bent over and measured a hen standing behind her instead. Babs. Ginger was perplexed at this

"Double their food rations, Mr. Tweedy. I want them all as fat as this one." Mrs. Tweedy smirks

Babs fainted and Grayson caught her. "Oh me life flashed before my eyes...it was really boring..."

"You're ok now, aunt Babs." Grayson assures the round hen

She perks up after hearing an all too familiar sound. "Chicken feed! My favorite!" She got up and went over to the feeder along with the rest of the flock

Ginger glances over at the Tweedy's watching outside the fence. She knew what they were up to! It wasn't too hard to put two and two together

"Why can't they love me just as much as they love chicken feed?" Ricky sighs at the sight of the hens stuffing their faces

Ginger turns over the chicken feeder in order to get their attention after saying their names and trying to hold them back didn't work. "Something is wrong here, can't you see that? First strange boxes arrive in a van, Ava stops laying but doesn't get taken to the chop. Don't you see what's happening? They're fattening us up! They're going to kill us all!"

The hens frowned at this and swallowed their food

"Woah, woah! Heavy alert!" Rocky rushes over to the British hen. "She didn't mean that, gals." He grabbed Ginger by the arm and pulled her down from the feeder

"Do you mind? What are you doing?" Ginger asked

"Keep eating. Save some for me." Rocky smiles. He walked away with a fuming Ginger, disappearing from view, hearing her sputter, "What are you- let go of me!"

"Ava? Are you ok?" Lillian places a wing on her shoulder

"No! I'll never be able to lay eggs again." Ava pushes her off

"Hey, hey. It's ok." Grayson embraces his little sister

Ava nuzzles into her brother's chest and took a deep breath before crying. She hated this awful place. None of them deserved this kind of treatment, being forced to lay eggs day in and day out for those greedy humans

A grumpy Rocky soon returned, gasping upon seeing the chicken yard full of depressed hens after rounding a corner of a hut. He watched them from the shadows as Mac played a harmonica and Babs held up a noose that she knitted, Bunty dropping a wingful of chicken feed in sadness. Rocky saw that even his kids had lost hope, the four of them in a group hug and showing defeated expressions on their faces. They were all depressed and lifeless, something the American rooster had never seen for as long as he lived at this farm. His face fell as he felt sorry for those poor old girls and his kids. He had an idea and left to go find the rats. He needed a favor

Ava wasn't feeling any better throughout the rest of the day. Why should she? Herself and her siblings faces were devoid of all expression. They were tired of fighting, tired of thinking. It was good to have a small glimpse of hope of being free while it lasted...

"It's official. I hate my life." Ricky sighs

"Story of my life." Grayson lays down on the rooftop

"Same." Lillian messes with her green scarf

They heard music playing and went to check it out. They saw their father standing by a radio with Nick and Fetcher as the hens stood around in confusion, some of them moving the bunks around so there was more open space to move around

"Here she is, gov. Ask and you shall receive." Nick said

"That's biblical." Fetcher explains

"That's pure craftsmanship is what it is. Solid as a rock." Nick watched as the rooster examines the radio

"It's supposed to do that!" Fetcher smiles after beating on the radio to demonstrate, a dial popping off of it

"It's perfect, guys." Rocky smiles

"Mom, what's all this?" Lillian asked the feisty hen

"I don't know." Ginger shrugs

Rocky browses through the different channels on the radio until he comes across a catchy tune, snapping his fingers

"I don't see what this has to do with-" Ginger started

"You will. We've been working too hard. It's time to kick back a bit and shake those tail feathers!" Rocky does a little dance

"Look at him. Nellypodging around like a- what's happening?" Ava looks down after feeling her foot tapping

"That's called a beat, sister. Feeling it pulsing through your body?" Rocky gives his daughter a little nudge

"Yes. It feels quite nice." Ava smiles at this strange new feeling

"Hey then go with it, baby!" Rocky grabs his daughters wings and spun her

Ava did a little jig. "Look! I'm going with it!"

"Ava, what's got into you?" Babs smiles at her niece

"Same thing that's got into you apparently." Ava said

Ava and Babs did a sideways shimmy, Rocky taking Babs by the wing and spinning her. "Just go with the flow, gals. Let it go."

The chickens all started dancing to the catchy upbeat song. Ricky was dancing with Agnes and Grayson was dancing with Buttercup. The two roosters shortly switched off, Grayson dancing with Agnes and Ricky dancing with Buttercup

Fowler entered the hut, surprised at the scene before him. "Now see here! I don't recall authorizing a hop!"

"Oh shut up and dance!" Bunty grabs the old bird and pulls him inside

Ginger and Rocky danced together for the first time and it went very well. It was much needed since the couple wore away the stress from their argument earlier

After the song ended, it was replaced by a much more slow tuned song. Agnes thanked Grayson for dancing with her and kissed him on the cheek, making the young cockerel blush. His first and probably his last kiss!

"I'll see you around." Agnes said before walking away

"Yeah, see ya." Grayson sheepishly replies

Lillian follows after Ava, sprinting to their parents. "Dad!" Ava smiles, hugging the rooster. "Thank you. I didn't think you cared about us."

"I'll always care about you." Rocky kisses the ginger hen on her cheek

Ricky excuses himself and went outside to get some fresh air. Buttercup was worried and went after the rooster to see if he was ok

"Ricky? Is everything alright?" She quickened her pace

Ricky stopped in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder. "I might ask you the same thing. Aren't you enjoying yourself in there?"

"Yes. I was just wondering if you were ok." Buttercup takes a step towards him

"I'm fine, angel face." Ricky smiles assuringly at her

"Can I ask you something?" Buttercup tilts her head

Ricky turns his body. "Mhm."

"It's just that...it's driving me a little crazy that one minute you're flirting with me and then the next you're flirting with Agnes. It's confusing as to who you're really interested in when we don't have a clue." Buttercup explains, Ricky listening closely to every word

"Well, what's your idea of a dream boyfriend?" Ricky asked

"Someone who listens to me, cares about me, makes an effort to stay in my life, would do anything to make me happy, tells me I'm...beautiful..." Buttercup trails off

Ricky chuckled softly. "My idea of a dream hen is someone who's not afraid to speak her mind, doesn't embarrass herself to get my attention, stays true to who they are, stays committed to whatever they set their mind to and most importantly, someone who's downright gorgeous." Ricky slowly approaches Buttercup

"I don't have those things." Buttercup sighs

"You are what you believe you are. I'm surprised you doubt your value." Ricky said in a serious tone

Buttercup blushed and looked away. Was it just the moonlight or did Ricky look as handsome as a full feeder bin? This certainly wasn't the carefree, charming, smooth talking, snarky rooster everyone knew he was. Maybe there was a completely different side to him that he kept from others. She felt fingers come into contact with the bottom of her beak, her head being turned to look at the partial Rhode Island Red

"Don't doubt yourself." Ricky winks

"I try not to. It's hard in times like these." Buttercup swallows hard. "You know, you're pretty wise considering how young you are."

"You don't have to be older to be wiser, doll face." Ricky chuckles a bit

Buttercup smiles at him, opening her beak to say something when the ground suddenly rumbled and shook for a quick second, the guard dogs barking at the barn doors. Ricky and Buttercup went over to the fence as the other chickens flowed out of the huts, curious as to what was going on inside the barn

Who's the apple of Ricky's eye? Agnes or Buttercup? Hm...


	4. Call Of Action

"Ricky? What's going on?" The dark brown hen becomes frightened

"I don't know." Ricky answers truthfully

The flock stood at the fence to see what the commotion was about. Something was happening and they were afraid to find out what. The chickens backed up when Mr. Tweedy entered the chicken yard with one of the guard dogs and backed Ginger up into a corner. The frightened hen turned to run when Mr. Tweedy grabs her. "I've got a score to settle with you."

Ricky ran over to the farmer and pecks at his boots in an attempt to let him free Ginger. It only resulted in the rooster getting picked up too, Mr. Tweedy leaving the chicken yard and taking the two to the barn

"Aunt Babs, hanger!" Lillian orders

Babs dug through her handbag and pulled out a clothes hanger, handing it over to her niece

"Gray, Ava. Ladder." Lillian said

"Not so fast, missy. I'll get your mother and brother. I don't need to worry about you, your brother and sister getting into danger too." Rocky approaches her and took the hanger

The siblings gave him the boost he needed and he made his way into the barn after gliding over on a telephone wire. What he saw inside the building made his blood go cold

Down below he saw Mr. Tweedy hang Buttercup upside down and strap her ankles to a conveyor belt. Ginger struggled to get free but it was no use. Mr and Mrs. Tweedy left the barn for a moment, leaving the hen and rooster all to themselves, dangling upside down from their locked shackles

"Brilliant. What's the next move, ma?" Ricky glances at her

"I don't know." Ginger admits

"Yo, baby doll!" Rocky shouted

"Rocky!" Ginger looks over at him

"I'm coming!" Rocky lands on the metal surface, his feet slipping from not having enough friction. He wasn't moving anywhere

"Hurry!" Ricky pleas as they drew near the chute

"I'm getting there!" Ricky's feet finally get going and he launched himself at his son and mate though Ricky had already dropped down moments before Ginger did as Rocky jumped towards her, missing the hen as she fell down the chute. "Aw, shoot!" He made an unintentional pun

"Rocky!" She called for him

Rocky peered down into the chute, unaware that he was standing on a lever and that it was moving downward under his weight, activating the vegetables

"I'll be down before you can say-" He gasped and looked up. "Mixed vegetables?!"

The potatoes, mushrooms and carrots poured down onto the rooster, making him fall down the chute. As he slid, he saw a sign ahead that said vegetables but flipped over to another sign just before he arrived which said meat. Still zooming downward, Rocky was diverted down another chute that sent him toward a set of rotating saw blades. There was almost no time to think. At the last second, Rocky noticed a pole he could reach and grabbed onto it and slid down, finding himself plummeting down a dark shaft. He landed in a big clump of dough that was chugging along on a conveyor belt and to his surprise, Ginger and Ricky were ahead of him, stuck in their own clumps of dough

"D'oh! Get it? Dough." Rocky tries to cheer them up

"Nice of you to drop in, dad." Ricky said

"We're stuck!" Ginger tries to move her feet

"Nothing to it. Oops." Rocky looks down after trying to take a step forward. He was stuck too

The three chickens heard a loud noise, looking ahead at another menace. A giant roller, flattening all the clumps of dough. They panicked at this since they'd be squished in a matter of minutes. Rocky struggled to get free with no luck. He had an idea and hopped towards his family

"Hang on!" He reaches out a wing, Ginger grabbed hold of it. She extended a wing towards Ricky, the young rooster almost getting squished by the giant roller. He held his mother's wing rather tight

Rocky grabs hold of a chain to his left, freeing himself and the others as they were hoisted up before being knocked off and onto another conveyor belt, plopping down onto a flattened piece of dough

Ginger glances up as a crust presser came down towards them. "Look out!"

She quickly got to her feet, along with her two boys. The roosters had their tail feathers almost completely straightened out as to not let a single feather on their bodies touch the contraption. They relaxed a tad bit after it raised up, however, the ground beneath them raised up as well. They were in a pie tin! The chickens were on yet another conveyor belt, a gravy dispenser up ahead, squirting the brown liquid into each pie that went by. The trio suddenly had diced up vegetables Rain down on them, their pie getting closer to the gravy dispenser. There was nothing to grab onto or use

"This is going to sting." Ricky prepares to be doused in scalding hot gravy

Rocky found a whole carrot in their pie. He had an idea! Once they were in front of the gravy dispenser, he plugged it up with the carrot. It worked! Ginger and her boys high winged each other when a layer of pastry came down on them, covering them up and moving the pie into a large room of sorts. They broke free of the pastry and wiped off the dough from their feathers

"It's like an oven in here." Rocky said

"Uh, dad?" Ricky hoped out of the pie and cautiously approached the wall of the room

Blue flames began to light all around them, shooting out of the floor. Ricky had gotten too close to one of the flames and shields his eyes, stepping back. His left eye was throbbing in unbearable pain. At the front of the room there was a large heavy door and it started to close

Ginger races for the door, the two roosters following after her. Rocky had fallen into a pie while Ginger and Ricky made it safely to the door. They saw Rocky was falling into nearly every pie and knew he needed help. Ricky found a wrench and propped it under the door to keep it open a little longer

Ginger rushes inside to retrieve Rocky while her son stayed at the door

"Hurry!" Ricky calls out, the wrench showing signs of being crushed from the weight of the door

Ginger and Rocky made it just in the nick of time before the door closed completely. Ricky rested for a moment since his left eye was still in a lot of pain and he couldn't really see out of it that much while Rocky cleaned himself off with a rag

Ricky felt gravy dripping onto him. "Dad, get that stuff away from me."

"It's not me." Rocky said

They looked up to see the gravy dispenser above them. Uh oh. They had to go! Now! The machine started to rumble and rattle "She's gonna blow! Run!"

The gravy squirter finally spat out the carrot, shooting past the three chickens and knocking some gears loose, clattering down a ramp after the birds, gears and cogs flying past them every which way. One of them made contact with the right side of Ricky's beak, the young rooster holding back from crowing in pain. The cogs behind them were on their heels and were about to shred them when Rocky grabbed a chain after taking hold of Ginger's wing, Ricky grabbing onto Ginger's arm at the last second as they swung out over a frightening chasm of gears and out of the pie machine. They landed on a pie box and rested for a moment

Ginger and Rocky moved out of the way as a giant press came down from overhead, stamping a label on Ricky's chest. Ginger peeled it off of him after reading it, horrified

"Ouch!" Ricky holds his chest

"We've got to tell the others, come on." Ginger said and scrambled off, Rocky and Ricky following the British hen

Ricky sat down outside on the roof of hut three, his head hanging low as Ginger held together a meeting about what they were up against. How much longer would it be until they would all become chicken pies? He heard someone behind him but didn't budge from where he was sitting. The chicken sat down next to him though kept a good distance from the rooster

"Hey. Are you alright?" Buttercup noticed the fresh scar on his beak, red still on it. Mac had cleaned it up a bit before he left but it was still oozing red liquid a little

"No. I didn't think I'd make it out of there alive. I- I was scared the whole time to be honest." Ricky puts a wing over his left eye

"I wanted to tell you that you were very brave, escaping from the pie machine." Buttercup turns his head towards her more and removed his wing from his face, slightly gasping at the sight of his left eye being almost hazy or milky

"Thanks." Ricky turns away

"You know, I think that was the first time I ever heard you do something courageous. I must admit, I admire that. I'm not a very courageous hen but I try to be." Buttercup went on

"I was scared of my own shadow when I was a chick. My parents always protected me from the scary mud puddles and killer water troughs." Ricky laughs a bit at recalling those memories from his younger days. "Never in a million years would I ever have thought of myself as courageous. I didn't even know where it came from. I suppose it was because I want to try and keep those I care about the most safe."

"Any of us would have done the same thing if it was one of our family members." Buttercup looks out into the distance

"Near death experiences aren't the greatest." Ricky sighs softly, putting his wings on the surface of the roof

"I wouldn't doubt it." Buttercup said. She went to put her wings down when she felt something warm and soft below one of them. She had accidentally touched wings with Ricky, both of them moving away from the surprising contact

"Sorry." She glances at him

"Don't be." Ricky smiles a bit. Was it just him or did she look tantalizingly beautiful in the moonlight?

Buttercup kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight Ricky." She said before standing up and making her way off of the roof

Ricky blushes slightly and touched his cheek where she had kissed him. He couldn't describe it, feeling things he never felt in his life. What did it mean? He got down from the roof and went back to hut seventeen were he saw a nervous Rocky standing outside, using a toothpick

"You ok, pop?" Ricky watched him fiddle with the toothpick in his mouth. It was easy to read the emotion on his father's face, one he rarely saw. He was feeling bad, feeling responsible. But about what?

Rocky couldn't bring himself to tell his family and the rest of the chickens that he had led them all on and now Ginger was pinning all her hopes on something that would never- could never- happen. "Hm? Oh I'm fine, son. So...you and Buttercup. Are you both..." Rocky trails off

"We're not a thing, dad." Ricky looks away

"Strike while the iron is hot. She cares about you a lot, among other things, and you don't want to miss your chance. I know you've dated a lot of hens here but maybe she's that special someone you've been looking for.Your mother and I want you to be with someone who makes you happy. I've dated my fair share of hens before settling down with your mom." Rocky throws the toothpick onto the ground

Ricky lets his father's words sink in. He certainly wasn't wrong. And he had to admit that he did feel a bit of a connection between the hen as well as getting the feeling of butterflies in his stomach when she was around

"Goodnight kid. And put a bandage on your beak." Rocky walks off

Ricky watched him leave for a second before he went inside the hut. He went over to Buttercup just as she was settling in her bunk. She jumped slightly upon seeing the young rooster. "Can we talk? Outside?" Ricky rubs the back of his neck

Buttercup nods and got out of her nest. She followed after him to behind hut seventeen. What could he possibly want to talk to her about?

"I want you to know that I- i...like you...a lot. And I know you do too." Ricky tugs at his bandanna

"Are you suggesting that we date?" Buttercup asked

"If you want to. I won't pressure you into it." Ricky holds up his wings

"Ricky, I'd love to but...not under these stressful circumstances." Buttercup glances down at her wings

"We can make this work somehow if that's what you're worried about." Ricky said

"I mean I can't commit myself to you without knowing if we're even going to make it out of here alive! It's only a matter of time before we're all doomed." Buttercup explains, Ricky's tail feathers lowering. He had never been turned down by a hen before

"I hope you find what you're looking for." Buttercup walked away

Ricky watched her leave. "I think I did..." He said to himself. He walked back to hut seventeen and got ready for bed

Lillian, Grayson and Ava crowded around his bunk just as he got comfortable

"Wow. You look awful." Ava cringed

"I'll say. You know, you're a fruit loop for going after Mr. Tweedy." Lillian folds her wings

"Hey, give him a break. At least he got out of there alive. You holding up ok, little brother?" Grayson had a look of worry

"I'm fine. My eye and beak hurt but I'm sure it'll pass." Ricky shrugs. He didn't want to admit that the experience also traumatized him and he'd feel like the odd bird out with his injuries

"At least it'll keep you from landing a girlfriend, chap." Grayson laughs lightly

"Jolly good, Gray." Lillian laughs

"Alright you three. Leave your brother alone." Ginger came over to her kids

Lillian, Grayson and Ava did as their mom asked, returning to their nests

"I'm sorry about what happened, darling." Ginger looks at Ricky. She felt guilty about putting her 'little' boy through that traumatic experience

"Its not your fault. You and dad did everything that you could to save us, ma." Ricky said

Ginger kisses the young rooster on his forehead. "I know. Get some rest." She said before going outside to dream about freedom like she always did

Ginger found Rocky sitting on a rooftop and joined him. She had an apology to make and so did Rocky

"I'm sorry that I've been harsh on you lately. What I mean is...thank you. For saving my life. For saving our lives." Ginger said

"It's not your fault." Rocky glances down at his wings

"You know, every night I look out to that hill and just imagine what it must be like to be free. It's funny, I've never felt grass beneath my feet." Ginger goes on

Rocky looks to his mate with a sympathetic expression. It must have been awful for her to grow up in this place

"I'm sorry, darling. Did you have something you wanted to tell me?" Ginger smiles at the rooster

"Uh, yeah. Um...it's just that...life, as I've experienced it, you know. I uh...came to realize that it's full of disappointments." Rocky chooses his words carefully

"You mean grass isn't all that it's cracked up to be?" Ginger teases him

"Grass! Exactly grass! It's always greener on the other side! And then you get there and it's brown and prickly. You see what I'm trying to say

Ginger nods for a second then shakes her head no

"What I'm trying to say is..." Rocky clenched his wings and looked his mate in her eyes, losing his train of thought after getting lost in her green orbs

"You're welcome." He sighed, propping a wing up and resting his face on it

"You know, that hill looks closer tonight than it ever has before." Ginger stares off into the distance

Rocky smiles to himself as he watched Ginger. He certainly was a lucky rooster to have the feisty hen in his life. But he felt guilty about keeping this lie from her. He didn't know how to tell her he couldn't fly. He'd feel even more guilty. Rocky didn't like to give anyone false hope especially considering how much Ginger dreamed of being free. When the American rooster met her, he remembered Ginger telling him all about how she wanted to live her life off of the farm, somewhere secluded where she could do as she pleased with no hassle of laying eggs everyday. Though of course she had to put her dream on hold after their kids came along, until they were old enough to care for themselves that is

"Come here, doll face." He chuckled softly

Ginger moves closer to Rocky and the couple shares a tender kiss, hoping and praying that everything would work out in the end

Lillian went for a walk around the chicken yard since she had trouble sleeping. Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and went to check it out. An old tethered backpack was sticking out from under one of the huts. Odd. She picked it up and searched the contents inside of it. What she found completely shocked her, horrified yet putting together the pieces of the puzzle. Everything made sense now...

I hope you're all enjoying the story. Until the next chapter


	5. Shocked

Ginger and the flock were up early, gathered outside hut seventeen and anxiously awaiting for Rocky's flying demonstration though Grayson and his sisters weren't entirely convinced. Especially Lillian. She found her father's circus poster and she felt betrayed by his lie. How could he stoop so low as to leading everyone on? Ginger left to go get Rocky

"I bet a bag of chicken feed that no one will lift an inch off the ground." Grayson said

"Oh yeah? I'll take you on that bet because I know we're going to fly out of here." Ava holds her head high in confidence

"Lil? Ricky? You in on it too?" Grayson looks past his little sister

Ricky isolated himself from the others. He was in a slump and didn't want to be bothered for a long...long time. He glances at his brother for a quick second before shaking his head

Lillian refused to make eye contact with her siblings

Ginger returned without Rocky which confused the others. Where was he? He promised to be there bright and early

"I don't understand. Where could he be?" The British hen thinks for a moment

Lillian clears her throat which gets everyone's attention. She reached under her scarf and pulled out something that was folded. She unfolded it, staring at it for a moment with hatred before showing it to the others. Rocky's circus poster. It showed the rooster being shot out of a cannon. It started to downpour on the chickens as they stared at the poster, shocked that they had been lied to. They had lost all hope again

"No." Ricky said to himself. He approached Lillian and took the poster from her. This had to be some kind of cruel joke. This couldn't have been the same rooster who was his father. The rooster he had always looked up to for as long as he could remember

"Dad couldn't fly after all. Not on his own..." Ava trails off

"Talk about disappointment." Grayson shook his head

"I knew he was lying all along. In fact, I'm not even certain he's American." Bunty folds her wings

"How many other lies has he told us?" Lillian furrows her brow and marched away. She went to the main gate and leaned against it, thinking intensely. This was a hard pill for her to swallow. How could she trust her dad again after all of this?

flashback*

A six month old Lillian was playing by the fence, not having a care in the world as the sun began to set. She heard her parents calling for her to come inside as it started to get cold and it was close to her bedtime

Lillian ignores her parents calls and continues to play. She saw a scary monster by one of the huts and chirps out of surprise

The young chick trembled in fear and started to back away when she bumped into something. She looked up to see her father smiling down at her

"Hey sweetie. Haven't you heard us?" Rocky puts his wings on his hips

"There's a- a monster, daddy! It's gonna get me!" Lillian tells the adult

"Monster? What monster?" Rocky looks all around. He didn't see any monster of sorts until his eyes landed on something that might have been scaring his daughter. Her shadow

"I think I found your monster." He chuckled, pointing at her shadow to show her it was nothing to fear

Lillian jumped and scrambled behind her dad. "Monster!"

Rocky turns around and picked up the chick. He tried his best to comfort his daughter though she didn't really like to be held by her parents. "Listen. I won't let anything harm you. Not even your own shadow."

"Pwomise?" Lillian sniffled

"I promise, sweetheart. I'd never lie to you." Rocky kisses her on the forehead

Lillian felt better at this and moved closer to her father before letting out a yawn

Rocky walked back to hut seventeen. "Let's get you to bed."

"I'm not tired." Lillian yawns once more

"Mhm. Sure you aren't." Rocky smiles

end of flashback*

Lillian sighed softly and shook her head. He'd never lie to her? Well things have definitely changed since then. She heard footsteps on the fresh mud and glances over her shoulder

"Hey..." Rocky greets

"Where have you been, Mr. Liar." Lillian scoffs

"Lillian, I know you're mad, you're not the only one but I'm truly sorry. I didn't know what else to do. I- I don't how I could possibly make this up to anyone." Rocky looks away

Ginger, Grayson, Ava and Ricky came over to see if Lillian was ok

The green eyed hen marched up to her mate and slapped him. "How could you?! We all trusted you and you lied!"

"Ginger, I'm sorry. I-" Rocky rubs the side of his face

"Dad, why did you do it? You always lectured us about being honest but what do you call this? I always looked up to you and now I'm not sure if I do anymore. I don't know how many other lies you've told us. I wish you weren't my father." Ricky speaks up. He had to get this off of his chest regardless if it hurt Rocky's feelings

As a matter of fact, his words did hurt Rocky. The Rhode Island Red was speechless as he let his son's words sink in. "Look, I- I don't expect anyone to forgive me but I just couldn't get the words out that I couldn't fly on my own. Ginger, I never saw you look so happy before and full of life when you thought I could. I gave everyone false hope about being free and I'm terribly sorry."

"Sorry doesn't change what you did, dad." Ava said

Grayson turned to his mother. "I told you not to pin your dreams on the flying thing." He folds his wings

"I know..." Ginger sighed

Rocky hung his head and walked away from his family. He knew that he messed up big time and there was nothing he could do to fix it

Lillian overheard Fowler rambling on about his RAF days and something about a crate. That's when she had an idea. She went to her grandpa's whereabouts and asked him what the RAF stood for

"Why the Royal Air Force of course." Fowler answers her

The old bird took her to his hut and showed the hens a few of his trinkets from his RAF days, Lillian taking an envelope he had handed her. It showed a flying machine on it

"You mean you flew? In one of these?" Ginger asked, peering over her daughters shoulder

"Gorgeous, isn't she?" Fowler said before going on with one of his stories

"Grandpa gave us the answer to our prayers. We're still going to fly out of here!" Lillian smiles, everyone giving her confused expressions

"Did you say fly?" Grayson asked

"I sure did. Grandpa provided the answer. We'll make a crate." Lillian tells everyone

"Babs you'll be in charge of manufacturing, Mac you'll handle engineering, Fowler will be chief aviation advisor, Grayson- diversions. Bunty. Eggs." Ginger assigned jobs to those she felt were suitable

"Eggs?!" Nick and Fetcher pop up from under a floorboard

"Eggs." Ginger confirms

"Right. Just like the ones that rooster was gonna lay. Only roosters don't lay eggs, do they?" Nick said

"Don't they?" Fetcher asked, confused

"No, you pillock." Grayson rolls his eyes. "Mom, do I really have to do distractions? Is it because of what I told you?"

"Maybe. Now get moving." Ginger shoos her son away. The feisty hen returned her attention to the rats. Lillian handed her a list of the materials they needed. "One egg for every item on the list. First payment in advance." An egg landed in her wing

"Right, when do we start?" The rats replied eagerly

Grayson ran over to the fence, waving his arms and squawking wildly. On the other side of the fence, the dogs barked and rushed at him. Grayson ran along the fence one way and the dogs followed. He ran the other way and the dogs followed, wild to get through the chain link. Fortunately, the fence was strong enough to keep the dogs out

"What do I have to do, paint a target on my butt?" Grayson laughs at the mutts

Meanwhile, Ava and Agnes were scurrying toward hut seventeen, carrying a wingful of various and sundry supplies. "Your brother is so brave." Agnes sighs, glancing back before heading inside. Ava rolls her eyes. Oh brother...

The flock was hard at work, not stopping for anything as they hurried to get this plan into full swing. There was absolutely no time to lose if they planned on escaping before the pie machine was back up and running. Lillian approaches her mother with Ava since the young hens weren't sure what to help with next

"Mom? What needs done?" Ava taps her on the shoulder

"I need you to talk to your father. We need all the help we can get." Ginger turns to look at them

"Why can't you do it?" Lillian raises a brow

"I need to make sure everything is running smoothly here. Please, go find him and talk to him." Ginger begs of her daughters

"Fine." Ava sighs. She left the hut with Lillian, hearing Ginger giving orders to the others from outside. They went to ask Grayson if he's seen their mother but he was still busy with the dogs so they let him be. The sisters decided to split up in order to cover more ground. It took about twenty minutes or maybe even less for Ava to find the Rhode Island Red, standing in one of the corners of the fence, secluding himself and wallowing in misery

"Dad?" She approaches him

"What is it?" Rocky doesn't even bother looking at her

"We need your help. We can't do this alone." Ava takes a step forward

"I- I can't. Not after everything I've done." Rocky sighs

"Nobody's perfect. We all have flaws. Sometimes we learn to forget about them and move on. If you don't want to help then you don't have to." Ava said, going off to find Lillian so they could go back to hut seventeen

They were only a few inches from the hut door when they stopped in their tracks at the sound of the machine running. The chickens froze for a moment before hearing the machine die again

"That was close." Lillian mutters

Rocky was busy debating if he should help out or not. What good could he do? He broke away from his thoughts after seeing something near the old shed. He squinted his eyes to see it was Ricky. What on earth was he doing outside the fence?

"Ricky?" He calls out to him an attempt to get his attention

Unfortunately Ricky couldn't hear his father, disappearing behind the building. Rocky had a lot of questions buzzing around in his mind. Was Ricky leaving for good or did he have a plan? Was there something he needed for the escape plan? The questions were endless...

Until the next chapter


End file.
